On a quiet Sunday morning at the First Baptist Church in Sutherland Springs, Texas – a town with a population less than 700 – Devin Kelly, a former Air Force logistics worker, walked into the back of the church armed with a semi-automatic military-style weapon and killed 26 people. “Department of Public Safety Spokesman Freeman Martin said Kelley moved around...

While Republicans struggle to find unity among themselves, Democrats have nothing to cheer about. In a new political memoir from Donna Brazile, the former head of the Democratic National Committee writes scathingly about the battles that took place within the party during the 2016 election. “Ms. Brazile,” The New York Times writes (Nov. 3), “took over as the interim chairwoman...

With all the incredible high-drama during one of the most exciting World Series ever, one unexpected scene played out in the Astro’s dugout. It only lasted a moment, but for first baseman Yuli Gurriel that moment will cost him in reputation and money. During last Friday night’s game, Gurriel had just scored a homerun off Dodger pitcher Yu Darvish, who...

Seventy-nine years ago, on Halloween eve, director Orson Wells pulled off one of the great media hoaxes of all time with a radio broadcast that scared the beejesus out of millions of listeners who believed that Martians had invaded New Jersey. (New Jersey?) A front-page story in The New York Times read: “Radio Listeners in Panic, Taking War Drama as...

On Tuesday, (Oct. 24), two House committees – oversight and intelligence –announced plans to “launch a joint investigation” into the Uranium One deal during the Obama administration. The genesis of this story goes back to the 2016 presidential campaign when then-candidate Trump stated a number of times: “Remember that Hillary Clinton gave Russia 20 percent of American uranium and, you...

“Mr. President, I would like to speak briefly and simply about a serious national condition. It is a national feeling of fear and frustration that could result in national suicide, and the end of everything that we Americans hold dear. It is a condition that comes from the lack of effective leadership in either the legislative branch or the executive...

The Take has been MIA for a while. So, let’s get to it. Spin Out – Yesterday, the junior senator from Arizona, Jeff Flake, announced he would not be running for re-election. In a surprise announcement from the floor of the Senate, most of Flake’s comments were pointed at the current occupant of the White House whose behavior grows more...

One day – (hopefully), many, many millennia in the future – some grad student will be green-lighted for a doctoral dissertation on President Trump’s tweets to examine, and perhaps shed light on the current “dark age” of American politics, starting here: “Sorry losers and haters, but my I.Q. is one of the highest — and you all know it! Please...

In his latest book, The American Spirit, historian David McCullough had the rare privilege of addressing a joint session of Congress in 1989. McCullough has observed much in his 84 years, and written much more about the past in books, and the present in speeches, and what he observes, he relates in stories that make the past come alive. On...

Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz is my kind of leader. He’s responsible to the bottom line, sure, but he’s also cognizant of the many issues facing the country. In 2013, at the company’s annual meeting, a shareholder stood up to criticize Starbucks support of marriage equality, declaring, “In the first full quarter after this boycott was announced, our sales and our...